Monroes gave a very good ride,in previous vehicles i owned.

 

I went to go find this hose.....I found somthing similar, but they asked me whether the hose was .75 inches total or was the hose opening .75 inches. They had a bunch of hoses, all marked the same way inside diameter and outside diameter, so I was wondering how you measured it?

 

The photos from Lexmex make me wonder -- can I attach the spring compressors while the vehicle is sitting normally while the vehicle weight compresses the springs? This would save trying to compress them down after removal of the strut assembly.

 

The vehicle weight wouldn't compress the springs enough.

 

Just a thought. Jacking up the other wheels puts more of the car's weight on the wheel (i.e., compresses the spring more).

 

I've done a strut job before on my firends 2001 Toyota Highlander. I placed the spring compressor clamps on the spring before the car was jacked up. I didn't have a air pistol and we only had to compress the spring a little more to get the new strut to fit into the spring.

 

That's what I was thinking -- that the spring is partially compressed under normal load. Not fully compressed, as Lexmex notes. I like Bob220's idea of trying to squeeze the spring additionally by jacking up the opposite corner. Does that work? I appreciate the help, all of you!

 

The first strut we took off we threw the tool on that car wasn't jacked up at all. This was the hardest to compress and took the longest. I thought it would be harder without the air pistol, like a lot harder, but it just took us longer to get the spring compressed. Then on the other sides while we had one side jacked up, we threw the spring compressor tool on and from what I remember it only took another 5 minutes or so to get the spring where we needed it to be.

hope this helps

 

Sorry, I skipped over this yesterday.

I measured from the outside diameter, see below.

I should note that I am slightly squeezing the hose here, so it doesn't quite reach 2 cm or .75 inches, but it's very close.

 

Lexmex you rock, great post, I had mine changed by a private mechanic and it is great to see what was involved.

 

Great write-up and pics! Thanks Lexmex. I do have one question. How did you keep the strut rod from turning when you were removing and reinstalling/torqueing the strut rod retaining bolt? The Repair Manual shows SST 09729-22031 (which I assume no one in the world has except Lexus dealer technicians) which is used to restrain the upper spring seat. That must mean the upper seat is keyed to the strut rod. Thanks for your help.

 

I saw that in the repair manual pertaining to the front shocks.

I don't remember from when this was done that this was particularly difficult.

The main reason was that we compressed the springs a lot more than shown in that diagram (we had the book open at the time).

 

Lexmex, your use of plastic tubing for a lower coil spring insulator is elegant to say the least. This is what I plan to do because, as you say, a KYB insulator will be $15 delivered and it won't last as long as the plastic tubing.

I do have one concern though. Toyota engineers are crafty. I wonder why they didn't use insulator tubes? I wonder if the stock insulator serves a purpose in addition to separating the metal coil spring from the metal strut? Or, maybe it is less manufacturing labor to slap on a stock insulator than fish on a plastic tube?

God, why do I spend time worrying about stuff like this???

 

Because you really,really,really,really like your RX,and want it to last as long as it can!!

 

In Mexico, it was so common at shock shops I went by to use the plastic hosing (cheaper). Intially, I think the rubber insulators may give a softer feel (I noticed that when I replaced mine a few times), but they gradually gave way. Not sure why Lexus didn't construct some polyurethane insulators or something more durable (same goes for bushings).

Keep in mind, that my RX suffered more abuse than many other RXs given its years in Mexico, so it become a laboratory for me and hopefully for Lexus to see what wear and tear can do on a vehicle and hopefully they learned what can happen over time.